Alaeddin and the Enchanted Lamp: Zein Ul Asnam and the King If the Jinn

Alaeddin and the Enchanted Lamp; Zein UL Asnam and the King of the Jinn: Two Stories Done Into English from Recently Discovered Arabic Text (Classic Reprint)

Alaeddin And The Enchanted Lamp, Zein Ul Asnam And The King Of The Jinn: Two Stories (1901)

Alaeddin and the Enchanted Lamp; Zein Ul Asnam and the King of the Jinn : Two Stories Done Into Englishe from the Recently Discovered Arabic Text

Alaeddin and the Enchanted Lamp

"good men and true."

[FN#317] Bedsa

[FN#318] Keisein. Burton, "his pockets."

[FN#319] Lit. "neck." The Muslims fable that all will appear atthe Day of Resurrection with their good and evil actions invisible form fastened about their necks. "And each man, weconstrain him to carry his actions (taas told by augury from the flight of birds, according to themethod so much in favour with the ancients, but interpreted bythe scholiasts as 'actions,' each man's actions being, accordingto them, the cause of his good and evil fortune, happiness ormisery), on (or about,.fi) his neck."--Koran, xvii, 14.

[FN#320] Night DXL

[FN#321] An idiomatic expression, equivalent to our vulgarEnglish phrase, "He was struck all of a heap."

[FN#322] Beszireh, mental (as opposed to bodily) vision.

[FN#323] Night DXLI.

[FN#324] Gheramuha.

[FN#325] Lit. "be rightly guided," "return to the right way."

[FN#326] Heds, Syrian for hheds.

[FN#327] i.e.. if thou be in earnest.

[FN#328] Aamin. Burton, "fonder and more faithful."

[FN#329] Night DXLII.

[FN#330] Lit. "blood of my liver."

[FN#331] i.e. the bride's parents.

[FN#332] Burton, "Also who shall ask her to wife for the son ofa snip?"

[FN#333] Night DXLIII.

[FN#334] Lit. "near and far," the great being near to the king'sdignity, and the small far from it.

[FN#346] Minhu. Burton translates, "for that 'tis of him," andsays, in a note, "Here the MS. text is defective, the allusionis, I suppose, to the Slave of the Lamp." I confess I do not seethe defect of which he speaks. Alaeddin of course refers to thelamp and reminds his mother that the prosperity they enjoy "is(i.e. arises) from it."

[FN#347] Lit. "completed," "fully constituted."

[FN#348] The attitude implied in the word mutekettif andobligatory in presence of a superior, i.e. that of a schoolboy inclass.

[FN#353] Lit. "the Divan;" but the door of the presence-chamberis meant, as appears by the sequel.

[FN#354] Burton, "and when it was shut, she would go to makesure thereof."

[FN#355] Muddeh jumah. Burton, "the whole month."

[FN#356] Burton, "come forward."

[FN#357] Burton, "levee days"

[FN#358] Izar. Burton, "mantilla."

[FN#359] Here the copyist, by the mistaken addition of fe (so),transfers the "forthright" to the Vizier's action of submissionto the Sultan's order.

[FN#360] Night DXLVII.

[FN#361] I have arranged this passage a little, to make it readintelligibly. In the original it runs thus, "Alaeddin's mother,whenas she took a wont and became every Divan-day going andstanding in the Divan before the Sultan, withal that she wasdejected, wearying exceedingly, but for Alaeddin's sake, her son,she used to make light of all weariness."

[FN#361] Aman; i.e. promise or assurance of indemnity,permission to speak freely, without fear of consequences.

[FN#362] Aman in secondary sense of "protection" or "safeguard."

[FN#363] i.e. I pardon thee, under God, ("then I" beingunderstood). The right of pardon residing with God, the piousMuslim can only say, "God pardon thee first and then I pardonthee."

[FN#367] Seadetuk, lit. "thy felicity;" this and jenabuk (lit."thy side"), "thine excellence" or "thy highness," and hhedsretuk"thy highness," (lit. "thy presence") are the titles commonlygiven to kings in Arabic-speaking countries, although hhedsretukis strictly applicable only to the Prophet and other highspiritual dignitaries. They are often, but erroneously, rendered"thy majesty"; a title which does not exist in the East and whichis, as is well known to students of history, of comparativelyrecent use in Europe.

[FN#368] Lit, "having regard to his clemency, he took tolaughing and asked her." Burton, "He regarded her with kindness,and laughing cloud, asked her."

[FN#369] Surreh, lit. purse and by extension, as here, anythingtied up in bag-shape.

[FN#378] Lit. an ill presence (mehhdser sau). This expression hasoccurred before in the Nights, where I have, in deference to theauthority of the late M. Dozy (the greatest Arabic scholar sinceSilvestre de Sacy) translated it "a compend of ill," reading thesecond word as pointed with dsemmeh (i.e. sou, evil, sub.)instead of with fetheh (i.e. sau, evil, adj.), although in such acase the strict rules of Arabic grammar require sou to bepreceded by the definite article (i.e. mehhdseru's sou). However,the context and the construction of the phrase, in which thepresent example of the expression occurs, seem to show that it isnot here used in this sense.

[FN#379] Night DXLIX.

[FN#380] Lit. (as before) "promised her to" (ila).

[FN#381] Lit. "to" (ila), as before.

[FN#382] i.e. the delay.

[FN#383] Lit. "he thanked his mother and thought (or made) muchof her goodness (istekthera bi-kheiriha, a common modernexpression, signifying simply 'he thanked her') for her toil."Burton, "Then he thanked his parent, showing her how her goodwork had exceeded her toil and travail "

[FN#384] Lit. "Wonder took her at this wonder and thedecoration." Burton amplifies, "She wondered at the marvelloussight and the glamour of the scene." Me judice, to put it in thevernacular, she simply wondered what the dickens it was allabout.

[FN#389] Eshaa; or, if we take the word as pointed with kesreh(i.e. ishaa), we may read, with Burton, "to pass the rest of theevening," though this expression seems to me hardly in characterwith the general tone of the MS.

[FN#390] Musterah.

[FN#391] Sic (el gheir).

[FN#392] Night DLI.

[FN#393] Min doun khiyaneh i.e. without offering her anyaffront. Burton, "and he did no villain deed."

[FN#416] El ashreh [mubeshshereh understood], "the ten [who wererejoiced with glad tidings]," i.e. ten of Mohammed's companions(Abou Bekr, Omar, Othman, Ali, Telheh, Zubeir, Saad ibn AbiWeccas, Abdurrehman ibn Auf, Abou Ubeideh ibnu'l Jerrah and Saidibn Zeid), to whom (and to whom alone) he is said to havepromised certain entrance into Paradise. They are accordinglyconsidered to have pre-eminence over the Prophet's otherdisciples and are consequently often invoked by the less orthodoxMuslims as intercessors with him, much after the fashion of theQuatuordecim Adjutores, the Fourteen Helpers [in time of need],(i.e. Saints Catherine, Margaret, Barbara, Pantaleon, Vitus,Eustace, Blase, Gregory, Nicholas, Erasmus, Giles, George,Leonard and Christopher) of Romish hagiology.

[FN#417] i.e the marriage of his son to the Sultan's daughter.Burton, "it having been a rare enjoyment to him that he hadfallen upon such high good fortune."

[FN#418] Lit. "marriage," i.e. "wedding festivities are out ofplace." The word (zijeh) here used is a dialectic (Syrian)variant of zewaj, marriage. Burton, "we require no delay,"

[FN#419] Lit. "the lord (i.e. he) of the suit or claim" (sahibu'd dewat).

[FN#420] Or "inestimable," lit. "might not be measured by (orappraised at) a price or value." Burton, "far beyond his power topay the price."

[FN#421] Lit. "How is the management or contrivance (tedbir)with thee?" i.e. "canst thou suggest to us any expedient?"

[FN#428] Fr. "... l'aimable." Lit. "by a way or means"(bi-terikeh). It may be we should read bi [hatheti'l]] terikeh, "by [this] means; " but the rendering in the text seems the moreprobable one, the Sultan meaning that he would thus get rid ofAlaeddin's importunity by practice, without open breach of faithor violence.

[FN#435] Need (lit. coin), a vulgar Syrian corruption of neket,customary gift of money or otherwhat to a bride on themarriage-day.

[FN#436] The whole of the foregoing passage is so confused thatI think it well to add here (l) a literal translation, as I readit: " So the Vizier, yea, indeed, he marvelled at the greatnessof that wealth more than the Sultan, but envy was killing him andwaxed on him more and more when he saw the Sultan that he wassatisfied with (or accepted of) the bride-gift and the dowry;however, it was not possible to him that he should gainsay thetruth and should say to the Sultan, 'He is not worthy;' only, hepractised with a device upon the Sultan so he should not let himgive his daughter the Lady Bedrulbudour to Alaeddin, and this[was] that he said to him, etc ,"--and also (2)) the version givenby Sir K. F. Burton, who takes a different view of the passage: "Then the Minister (although he marvelled at these riches evenmore than did the Sultan), whose envy was killing him and growinggreater hour by hour, seeing his liege lord satisfied with themoneys and the dower and yet being unable to fight against fact,made answer, 'Tis not worthy of her.' Withal he fell to devisinga device against the King, that he might withhold the LadyBadr-al-Budur from Alaeddin, and accordingly he continued, etc."

[FN#437] Or "in comparison with her" (ent hhedsretuk istatsemethatha aleiha). This is an ambiguous passage and should perhaps beread, " Thou magnifiest this (i.e. the gift) over her."

{FN#445] Bekia ma bekia hatha shey aleik, lit. "remaineth whatremaineth this is a thing upon (or for) thee." Burton, "Happenwhatso may happen; the rest is upon thy shoulders." The firstbekia is perhaps used in the common colloquial sense of "then."

[FN#455] Lit. "and let there be with each slave-girl a suit,etc." Burton "And let every handmaid be robed in raiment thatbefitteth queens wearing." The twelve suits of clothes to bebrought by the slave-girls were of course intended for thewearing of Alaeddin's mother; see post, p. 167. {see FN#457 intext}

[FN#473] Lit. "but the behoving on me for her service engageth(or enforceth) me to apply myself "hereunto."

[FN#474] i.e. at thy disposition.

[FN#475] Night DLXIV.

[FN#476] Tebakhin. Burton, "kitcheners."

[FN#477] Keszr.

[FN#478] Wa, but quaere au ("or")?

[FN#479] Kushk.

[FN#480] The description of the famous upper hall with thefour-and- twenty windows is one of the most contused andincoherent parts of the Nights and well-nigh defies the effortsof the translator to define the exact nature of the buildingdescribed by the various and contradictory passages which referto it. The following is a literal rendering of the above passage:"An upper chamber (keszr) and (or?) a kiosk (kushk, a wordexplained by a modern Syrian dictionary as meaning '[a building]like a balcony projecting from the level of the rest of thehouse,' but by others as an isolated building or pavilion erectedon the top of a house, i.e. a keszr, in its classical meaning of'upper chamber,' in which sense Lane indeed gives it assynonymous with the Turkish koushk, variant kushk,) withfour-and-twenty estrades (liwan, a raised recess, generally asquare-shaped room, large or small, open on the side facing themain saloon), all of it of emeralds and rubies and other jewels,and one estrade its kiosk was not finished." Later on, when theSultan visits the enchanted palace for the first time, Alaeddin"brought him to the high kiosk and he looked at the belvedere(teyyareh, a square or round erection on the top of a house,either open at the sides or pierced with windows, =ourarchitectural term 'lantern') and its casements (shebabik,, pl.of shubbak, a window formed of grating or lattice-work) and theirlattices (she"ri for she"rir, pl. of sheriyyeh, a lattice), allwroughten of emeralds and rubies and other than it of preciousjewels." The Sultan "goes round in the kiosk" and seeing "thecasement (shubbak), which Alaeddin had purposely left defective,without completion," said to the Vizier, "Knowest thou the reason(or cause) of the lack of completion of this casement and itslattices?" (shearihi, or quaere, "[this] lattice," the copyisthaving probably omitted by mistake the diacritical points overthe final ha). Then he asked Alaeddin, "What is the cause thatthe lattice of yonder kiosk (kushk) is not complete?" Thedefective part is soon after referred to, no less than fourtimes, as "the lattice of the kiosk" (sheriyyetu 'l kushk), thusshowing that, in the writer's mind, kushk, liwan and shubbak weresynonymous terms for the common Arab projecting square-sidedwindow, made of latticework, and I have therefore rendered thethree words, when they occur in this sense, by our English"oriel," to whose modern meaning (a window that juts out, so asto form a small apartment), they exactly correspond. Again, inthe episode of the Maugrabin's brother, the princess shows thelatter (disguised as Fatimeh) "the belvedere (teyyarrh) and thekiosk (kushk) of jewels, the which [was] with (i.e. had) thefour-and-twenty portals" (mejouz, apparently a Syrian variant ofmejaz, lit. a place of passage, but by extension a porch, agallery, an opening, here (and here only) used by synecdoche forthe oriel itself), and the famous roe's egg is proposed to besuspended from "the dome (cubbeh) of the upper chamber" (el keszrel faucaniyy), thus showing that the latter was crowned with adome or cupola. It is difficult to extricate the author's exactmeaning from the above tangle of confused references; but, as faras can be gathered. in the face of the carelessness with whichthe text treats kushk as synonymous now with keszr or teyyarehand now with liwan or shubbak, it would seem that what isintended to be described is a lofty hall (or sorer), erected onthe roof of the palace, whether round or square we cannot tell,but crowned with a dome or cupola and having four-and-twenty deepprojecting windows or oriels, the lattice or trellis-work ofwhich latter was formed (instead of the usual wood) of emeralds,rubies and other jewels, strung, we may suppose, upon rods ofgold or other metal I have, at the risk of wearying my reader,treated this point at some length, as well because it is animportant one as to show the almost insuperable difficulties thatbeset the. conscientious translator at well-nigh every page ofsuch works as the "Book of the Thousand Nights and One Night."

[FN#481] Night DLXV.

[FN#482] The text has imar (an inhabited country), an evidentmistake for emair (buildings).

[FN#483] Night DLXVI.

[FN#484] Atsm sekhahu. Burton. "his dignity was enhanced."

[FN#485] Or "imitate" (yetemathelou bihi). Burton, "which aresuch as are served to the kings."

[FN#486] Night DLXVII.

[FN#487] Wectu 'l asr, i.e. midway between noon and nightfall.

[FN#488] Lit. "was broken" (inkeseret).

[FN#489] Burton, "with the jerid," but I find no mention of thisin the text. The word used (leall kinds of martial exercises; it may also mean simply,"caracoling."

[FN#505] Tekerrum (inf. of V of kerem), lit. "being liberal toany one." here an idiomatic form of assent expressingcondescension on the part of a superior. Such at least is theexplanation of the late Prof. Dozy; but I should myself inclineto read tukremu (second person sing. aorist passive of IV), i.e." Thou art accorded [that which thou seekest]."

[FN#525] Lit. "the lattice of the kiosk which (i.e. the lattice)is lacking or imperfect." The adjective (nakiszeh) is put in thefeminine, to agree with "lattice" (sheriyyeh), which isfemminine, kiosk (kushk) being masculine.

[FN#526] Kushk.

[FN#527] She"rihi.

[FN#528] Et tewashiyy, a term here used for the first time inthe present text, where we generally find the Turkish Aga in thissense.

[FN#529] Night DLXXII.

[FN#530] Lit. "kiosk" (kushk).

[FN#531] Fi szerayyetika.

[FN#532] Szeraya.

[FN#533] Lit. "that I was not lacking in ableness to completeit."

[FN#534] Kushk, here used in sense of "belvedere."

[FN#535] Or "upper chamber" (keszr).

[FN#536] Kushk. From this passage it would seem as if thebelvedere actually projected from the side of the upper story orsoler (keszr), instead of being built on the roof, lantern-wise,or being (as would appear from earlier passages) identical withthe hall itself, but the whole description is as before remarked.so full of incoherence and confusion of terms that it isimpossible to reconcile its inconsistencies.

[FN#548] Technical names of the primary and secondary figures.The following account of the geomantic process, as described byArabic writers de re magicf, is mainly derived from theMukeddimat or Prolegomena of Abdurrehman ibn Aboubekr Mohammed(better known as Ibn Khaldoun) to his great work of universalhistory. Those (says he) who seek to discover hidden things andknow the future have invented an art which they call tracing orsmiting the sand; to wit, they take paper or sand or flour andtrace thereon at hazard four rows of points, which operation,three times repeated (i.e. four times performed), gives sixteenrows. These points they eliminate two by two, all but the last(if the number of the points of a row be odd) or the last two (ifit he even) of each row. by which means they obtain sixteenpoints, single or double. These they divide into four figures,each representing the residual points of four lines, set oneunder another, and these four figures, which are called themothers or primaries, they place side by side in one line. Fromthese primaries they extract four fresh figures by confrontingeach point with the corresponding point in the next figure, andcounting for each pair a single or double point, according to oneof two rules, i.e. (1) setting down a single point for eachsingle point being on the same line with another point, whethersingle or double, and a double point for. each pair of doublepoints in line with each other, or (2) reckoning a double pointfor each pair of like points (single or double), correspondingone with another on the same line' and a single point for each,unlike pair. These new figures (as well as those that follow) arecalled the daughters or secondaries and are placed beside theprimaries, by confrontation with which (i,e, 5 with 1, 6 with 2,7 with 3 and " with 4) four fresh figures are obtained after thesame fashion and placed side by side below the first eight. Fromthis second row a thirteenth and fourteenth figure are obtainedin the same way (confronting 9 with lo and 1 l with 12)) andplaced beneath them, as a third row. The two new figures,confronted with each other, in like manner, furnish a fifteenthfigure, which, being confronted with the first of the primaries,gives a sixteenth and last figure, completing the series. Then(says our author), the geomant proceeds to examine the sixteenfigures thus obtained (each of which has its name and itsmansion, corresponding to one of the twelve signs of the zodiacor the four cardinal points, as well as its signification, goodor bad, and indicates also, in a special way, a certain part ofthe elemental world) and to note each figure according to itspresage of weal or ill; and so, with the aid of an astrologicaltable giving the explanations of the various signs andcombinations, according to the nature of the figure, its aspect,influence and temperament (astrologically considered) and thenatural object it indicates, a judgment is formed upon thequestion for a solution of which the operation was undertaken. Imay add that the board or table of sand (tekht reml), sofrequently mentioned in the Nights, is a shallow box filled withfine sand, carefully levelled, on which the points of thegeomantic operation are made with a style of wood or metal. (Thename tekht reml is however now commonly applied to a mere boardor tablet of wood on which the necessary dots are made with inkor chalk. ) The following scheme of a geomantic operation willshow the application of the above rules. Supposing the firsthaphazard dotting to produce these sixteen rows of points,

[FN#552] Sic, meaning of course that he had discovered itsproperties and availed himself thereof.

[FN#553] Medinetu 's seltaneh, i e. the seat of government orcapital.

[FN#554] Lit. "donned " (lebesa).

[FN#555] Here Galland says, " Il entra dans le lien le plusfameux et le plus frequente par les personnel de grandedistinction, ou l'on s'assembloit pour boire d'une certaineboisson chance qui luy etoit connue des son premier voyage. Iln'y e-t pas plust"t pris place qu'on lay versa de cette boissondans une tasse et qu'on la luy presenta. En la prenant, comme ilprestoit l'oreille ... droite et ... gauche, il entendit qu'ons'entretenoit du palais d'Aladdin." The Chavis MS. says, "Heentered a coffee-house (kehweh, Syrian for kehawi), and thereused to go in thereto all the notables of the city, and he hearda company, all of them engaged in (ammalin bi, a very vulgarexpression) talking of the Amir Alaeddin's palace, etc." This (ora similar text) is evidently the original of Galland'stranslation of this episode and it is probable, therefore, thatthe French translator inserted the mention "of a certain warmdrink"(tea), out of that mistaken desire for local colouring atall costs which has led so many French authors (especially thoseof our own immediate day) astray. The circumstance was apparentlyevolved (alla tedesca) from his inner consciousness, as, althoughChina is a favourite location with the authors of the Nights, wefind no single mention of or allusion to tea in the rest of thework.

[FN#556] Lit. "I will make him lose."

[FN#557] Night DLXXV.

[FN#558] Lit. "Instruments of astronomy or astrology" (tenjim);but tenjim is also used in the sense of geomancy, in whichoperation, as before explained, astrology plays an importantpart, and the context shows that the word is here intended tobear this meaning. Again, the implements of a geomancer of thehigher order would include certain astrological instruments, suchas an astrolabe, star-table, etc., necessary, as I have beforeexplained, for the elucidation of the scheme obtained by thesand-smiting proper.

[FN#559] He had apparently learned (though the Arabic authoromits, with characteristic carelessness, to tell us so) thatAlaeddin was absent a. hunting.

[FN#560] Akemm, vulg. for kemm, a quantity.

[FN#561] Minareh, lit. "alight-stand," i.e. either a lamp-standor a candlestick.

[FN#562] Bi-ziyadeh, which generally means "in excess, to boot,"but is here used in the sense of "in abundance."

[FN#563] Aalem.

[FN#564] After the wont of "the natural enemy of mankind' in allages.

[FN#565] Keszr.

[FN#566] Night DLXXVI.

[FN#567] Aghatu 't tuwashiyeh.

[FN#568] Ubb.

[FN#569] Lit. "who" (men), but this is probably a mistake for ma(that which).

[FN#581] The name of the province is here applied to animaginary city.

[FN#582] Night DLXXX.

[FN#583] Lit. "who hath a head with the head-seller or dealer inheads, etc." The word here employed (rewwas) commonly signifies"a man who cooks and sells sheepsheads, oxheads, etc." M.Zotenberg makes the following note on this passage in. hisedition of Alaeddin; "Rewwas (for raa"s) signifies not only 'hewho sells cooked heads,' but also 'he who makes a business ofcooking heads.' Consequently whoso entrusteth a head to therewwas is preoccupied and sleeps not." M. Zotenberg's note isunintelligible, in consequence of his having neglected to explainthat the passage in question is a common Egyptian proverb,meaning (says Burckhardt), "the person whose fortune is entrustedto the hands of strangers cannot enjoy repose." "The poor," addshe, "at Cairo buy sheepsheads and for a trifle have them boiledin the bazaar by persons who are not only cooks, but sellers ofsheepsheads, and are therefore called raa"s, or in the Egyptiandialect rewwas." The proverb is in the present case evidentlymeant as a play upon the literal meaning ("headsman," hence byimplication "executioner") of the word rewwas, although I cannotfind an instance of the word being employed in this sense. It is,however, abundantly evident from the general context that this isthe author's intention in the passage in question, Alaeddin'shead being metaphorically in the hands of (or pledged to) theheadsman, inasmuch as he had engaged to return and sufferdecapitation in case he should not succeed in recovering theprincess within forty days.

[FN#584] I suppose the verb which I render "caused [sleep] getthe mastery," to be ghelleba, II of gheleba, as the only way ofmaking sense of this passage, though this reading involves someirregularity from a grammatical point of view. This, however, isno novelty in the present text. Burton, "But whoso weareth headhard by the headsman may not sleep o'nights save whenas slumberprevail over him."

[FN#585] Zeczekeh, a word which exactly renders the sparrow'sdawn-cheep.

[FN#589] Lit. "bride'' (arouseh). She is always, to the end ofthe tale, spoken of as Alaeddin's " bride," never as his "wife,"whilst he, in like manner, is called her "bridegroom" (arous).

[FN#590] This, at first sight, appears a contradiction, as weare distinctly told (see ante, p. 207) that the princess wasunaware of the properties of the lamp; but the sequel shows thatshe had learned them, in the mean time. from the magicianhimself. See post.

[FN#591] Ifrikiyeh.

[FN#592] Night DLXXXI.

[FN#593] Lit. "a spit (ric) of sweet." We may also read reic orreyyic, "the first part of anything" (especially "the first dropof rain").

[FN#594] Lit. "having changed the clothes of this my dress."

[FN#595] i.e. taking effect the moment of its administration.

[FN#596] Night DLXXXII.

[FN#597] Because white wine would have been visibly troubled bythe drug.

[FN#619] Lit. "in" (fi); but fi is evidently used here inmistake for bi, the two prepositions being practicallyinterchangeable in modern Arabic of the style of our presenttext.

[FN#620] Burton, "his costliest raiment."

[FN#621] Or chamber (keszr).

[FN#622] Night DLXXXV.

[FN#623] Sic (raihh), a common vulgarism in this text.

[FN#624] Night DLXXXVI.

[FN#625] Lit. "also" (eidsan).

[FN#626] i.e. the two were as like as two halves of a bean.

[FN#627] i.e. the world.

[FN#628] Or death (Saturn), the eighth division of the commonastrological figure.

[FN#629] Menkeleh. See my Book of the Thousand Nights and OneNight, Vol. I. p. 129, note 1. {see Vol. 1 of Payne's Book of theThousand Nights and One Night, FN#41}

[FN#630] Dsameh.

[FN#631] Liha keramat kethireh. Kerameh (sing. of keramat),properly a favour or mark of grace, a supernatural gift bestowedby God upon His pious servants, by virtue whereof they performmiracles, which latter are also by derivation called keramat. Cf.Acts viii. 28: "Thou hast thought that the gift of God," i.e. thepower of performing miracles, "may be purchased with money."

[FN#632] Night DLXXXVII.

[FN#633] Weliyeh.

[FN#634] Fe-ain (where), probably a mistranscription for fe-men(who).

[FN#635] Sitti, fem. of Sidi, "my lord," the common title of asaint among modern Arabic-speaking peoples.

[FN#635] Meskin, lit. "poor wretch," but used as our "good man"and the French "bonhomme," in a sense of somewhat contemptuousfamiliarity.

[FN#638] Keniz, a word which I cannot find in any dictionary,but which appears to be the past participle (in the secondaryform for mecnouz, as ketil, slain, for mertoul,) of keneza, alost verb of which only the fourth form acneza, he drank from acup (kinz), survives, and to mean "something drunk from a cup."Burton, "wine."

[FN#640] Lit. "belly " (betn); but that "breast" is meant isshown by the next line, which describes Fatimeh as finding theenchanter seated on her heart.

[FN#641] Lit. "heart" (kelb).

[FN#642] The text adds here, "she went not and came not" (larahet wa la jaet). Burton translates, "as though she had nevergone or come" and adds, in a note, by way of gloss, "i.e. as shewas in her own home;" but I confess that his explanation seems tome as obscure as the text.

[FN#643] Night DLXXXVIll.

[FN#644] Keszr.

[FN#645] The first or "opening" chapter of the Koran.

[FN#646] En nas bi 'l ghewali kethir an, lit. "The folk in[things] precious (or dear or high-priced, ghewali, pl. ofghalin, also of ghaliyeh, a kind of perfume) are abundant anent."This is a hopelessly obscure passage, and I can only guess at itsmeaning. Bi 'l ghewali may be a clerical error for bi 'l ghalibi,"for the most part, in general," in which case we may read, "Folkin general abound [in talk] anent her virtues;" or bi 'l ghewalimay perhaps be used in the sense (of which use, however, I knowno instance) of " in excessive estimation,' in which latter casethe passage might be rendered, "Folk abound in setting a highvalue on (or extolling) her virtues." Burton boldly amplifies,"the folk recount her manifestations in many cases ofdifficulty."

[FN#647] Lit. "That he might complete his deceit the more." Themeaning is that he dissembled his satisfaction at the princess'sproposal and made a show of refusal, so he might hoodwink her themore effectually.

[FN#663] Lit. "for that secret that she healed." Burton, "forthe art and mystery of healing."

[FN#664] Min wejaihi.

[FN#665] Szeraya.

[FN#666] Terehhhheba bihi.

[FN#667] Lit. "believed not in."

[FN#668] Night DLXCI.

[FN#669] Ghereza (i.q.. gheresa).

[FN#670] Lit. "Out of regard to or respect for thine eyes."(Keramet[an] li-uyouniki), i.e. "Thanks to the favourableinfluence of thine eyes." When "the eye" is spoken of withoutqualification, the "evil eye" is commonly meant; here, however,it is evident that the reverse is intended.

[FN#672] Lit. "neglectful of the love of thee." This is adifficult passage to translate, owing to its elliptical form; butthe meaning is that the princess wished to assure Alaeddin thatwhat had happened was not due to any slackening in the warmth ofher affection for him.